Lavender is a plant that enchants: the beautiful color, the intense "blue-violet" of the lavender blossoms and their fragrant, warm scent create a holiday mood and transport you mentally to the sunny south. "Lavender is the soul of Provence," as writer Jean Giono once put it, and so it is no surprise that this special plant has also developed into one of the most popular fragrant and medicinal herbs in our latitudes. Lavender is very well suited for pot culture and proves to be grateful for little care.
Seeds - English Lavender
€3,50
Type:
Seeds
This seed is BIO certified
(DE-ÖKO-006)
Properties
| Plant information | |
|---|---|
| June to September | |
| Medium feeder | |
| Lavandula angustifolia | |
| 30 - 50 cm | |
| perennial | |
| Purple | |
| Ideally suited for fish, meat and sauces. Also has a calming effect as a scented sachet. | |
Planting instructions on the envelope
Sowing is best done indoors on the windowsill in February or March. A mineral seed-starting substrate (50:50 vermiculite/perlite) that should be kept consistently moist but never wet is ideal. Lavender likes it warm and very sunny. For ideal growth, it should be offered nutrient-poor soil that is permeable to calcareous and is only carefully fertilized once a year. It should only be watered when the soil has almost dried out. Better several days without water than one day with too much water. After the last frosts, it can be planted outdoors. Lavender grows perennially but is only partially winter-hardy.
Detailed planting instructions: Lavender (English Lavender)
There are some plants that you have always wanted to have in your garden. But sometimes there is no more space in the bed, then you have decided on something else, and the next time you might not dare to do it because it is a somewhat more exotic species. Strictly speaking, the exotic label also applies to English Lavender. However, this is a plant that you can safely dare to try – lavender is much less demanding than its origin would have you believe. You really can't do much wrong.
Isn't it too cold for English Lavender here?
One might think so, but that is not true. English Lavender is one of the more robust species of its genus. Sure, if you live in a high Alpine valley, it won't work without frost protection measures. But even where grapes grow, Lavandula angustifolia – as it is botanically named – manages well without any problems. If it threatens to get really cold, you can drape a little brushwood around the part of the stem that sticks out of the ground.
But before it gets that far, it's all about planting first. Once it's February, you can slowly start preparing. To do this, take a few bowls, preferably those you usually eat muesli from. Fill them with some seed-starting soil, into which you put the seeds. In the coming weeks, you should keep this soil slightly moist – but only slightly. English Lavender does not like it when it gets wet, and this applies to young shoots just as much as to mature plants.
Outdoors in May
When May arrives, the lavender is looking forward to you setting it free, but only where the soil is nutrient-poor, slightly sandy, and well-draining. The drier and sunnier the location, the better it is for the lavender. The place should also be sheltered from the wind. If it is still frosty at night, and that does happen in May, then it is better to wait, because the young plants do not yet like frost. When planting in the ground, you can put several plants per square meter. Because the more plants there are in one spot, the more intensely lavender smells. A dense planting is also naturally advantageous for the eye. As soon as you have placed the plants outside, fertilize them a little with a universal fertilizer, and repeat this procedure every 14 days. There isn't much more to do.
How to properly care for English Lavender
With one exception: pruning. As soon as the first bloom in late summer is over, you prune all plants back so that all withered blossoms are gone, leaving about two-thirds of each stem. When winter is over, you have to get back to it with the pruning shears – now you cut a few centimeters above the point where the woodiness that set in during the winter reaches. Here, however, you must be careful that a few shoots and leaves from the previous year remain on the plant; this helps with new growth. This guarantees that the lavender begins to branch out exactly at the point of the cut, which makes the plant compact. Pruning is necessary because otherwise, lavender will fall apart.
Not particularly difficult, right? Good luck with your lavender – may it...
